Vehicle occupant support

ABSTRACT

An arrangement in passenger vehicles, that provide a mechanism for reducing the peak inertial loading on the occupant including children during lateral acceleration, and has synergistic comfort, convenience and utility features.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from and hereby incorporates herein byreference, Ser. Nos. 11/113,028; 11/185,784; 60/751,305 filed Dec. 19,2005; 60/848,804 filed Sep. 29, 2006; 60/849,685 filed Oct. 5, 2006; and60/845,761 filed Sep. 20, 2006.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO A MICRO FICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention defines a means to incorporate in passengervehicles, unique occupant supports that enhance the safety, comfort,utility and convenience. The special needs of child seats for vehiclehave not evolved much beyond a static plastic seat with solid wings andprojections to prevent excessive movement. This invention allowsmovement of the occupant to improve the well being of the occupant onthe measures noted.

2. Objects & Advantages

Some of the objects and advantages of the present invention are safetyarrangements particularly for lateral or side impacts that provideenergy absorption and a reduction in the peak acceleration, intrusioninto the space occupied by the passenger and reduce other factors thatcan seriously injure or kill passengers or occupants. The presentinvention also addresses the discomfort of lateral accelerations due tovehicle movement. This invention also addresses the special needs ofchildren's support in vehicles to reduce injury, increase comfort, andimprove convenience to the parent and finally the enhancing theexperience and related child development that derives from stimuliabsorbed while traveling in a vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1& 2 illustrates an embodiment of a (Child/Infant supportmechanism) CISM and support. The mechanism for moving the CISM can beused for any passenger support mechanism. The illustrated position isduring a lateral acceleration of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 illustrates an occupant support mechanism that is adapted toreorient during lateral accelerations. It is also designed to ejectalong slides for egress and ingress with worm drives activating theejection.

FIG. 4-7 illustrates the same occupant support mechanism from differentperspectives.

FIG. 8 illustrates the occupant support under lateral accelerationshowing the reorientation to face the occupant away from the impact.

FIG. 9,10 illustrates the movement after the initial impact where theoccupant moves away from the impact.

FIG. 11 illustrates a front facing CISM where the harness is in twoparts and each of them can be independently locked down. These harnessparts are shown swung up away from the occupant to allow egress andingress. In addition the shell that supports the child can be rotatedoutwards for easy access.

FIG. 12 shows the same front facing CISM at a time it is under lateralacceleration in the vehicle.

FIG. 13 illustrates the same front facing CISM in the normal operatingposition with no lateral accelerations.

FIG. 14 shows a rear facing CISM (using the same base, sub-base andsupport cradle as for the front facing CISM) the rear facing CISM isshown in the normal operating position has. The figure shows theretracted undercarriage and wheels along with the retracted handle.These are extended when the shell is released and are used to wheel theshell by the parent or guardian of the child.

FIG. 15 shows the another view of the rear facing CISM in the normaloperating position.

FIG. 16 shows the rear facing CISM under lateral acceleration.

FIG. 17 shows the “cradle” that supports the shell (in this case therear facing CISM is shown. The same cradle is adapted to support thefront facing CISM also.

FIG. 18 shows the rear facing CISM shell removed from the cradle andwith the undercarriage and handle extended and ready for wheeling thechild around.

FIG. 19 shows the rear facing CISM shell with retracted wheels andhandle.

FIG. 20 shows the rear facing CISM under lateral acceleration.

FIG. 21-30 illustrate an alternative embodiment.

FIG. 31-33, 35, 37-52 show versions of the preferred embodiment

In FIG. 31: XA—Slider Assembly can take many locked positions to allowrearward facing and forward facing positions as well as recliningpositions for infants; XB—Loop connects tether support to latch foradditional rigidity.

In FIG. 32: XC—TWO PART HARNESS These may be secured together by a loosepiece of webbing that allows the two parts to separate as the harnessretracts over the head of the child. (The Harness is spring mounted toretract up and away from the occupant when released) allowing a singlehand operation in a single motion to secure the harness or to releaseit; XD—Latches for Harness and shell Separate but can be locked togetherto release the shell at the same time as the harness. Particularlyuseful for the infant shell that may be removed with the child andcarried or rolled along with a retractable handle and skate wheels).

In FIG. 33: XE—Shoulder pads are designed to be on the sides and in manyembodiments in front of the shoulders, in the operating position;XF—Angled orientation of Pillow Pads 1. Provide support for sleep 2.Provide support during the front impact with the narrow front The frontwill be narrower with hinges noted 3. In side impact are in positions tosupport the head as the seat swings or rotates; XG—Forward pivotinghinges (with limits) are limited to a small angular movement to preventthe forward impact load on the harness to pull it forward and reduce thegap between pillow pads to prevent the head from moving forward; XI—Widearea of harness distributes the impact load. Harness may have—on childside or innersurface one or more air pouches or air cushions thatdistribute the load on impact across the harness; XJ—All surfaces nextto the occupant may have suitable impact absorbing materials.

In FIG. 33A: XH—Central or a pair of hinges on arms that pivot forward(XH1) to reduce the gap between pillow pads (XH2) with force (XH3) fromharness on impact.

FIG. 34,36 show the detail for a passive air conditioning system thatutilizes the kinetic energy of the mass of the occupant to force freshair into the shell for comfort.

In FIG. 34: “Bellows” passive air conditioning for seat shell; XK—Shellhas perforations; XL—Fabric or other surface material against child;XM—Flexible membrane has staggered perforations (even statisticallystaggered in mass produced items); XN—THE CYCLE—1. When body of child isforced towards shell the foam compresses and the membrane is pushedagainst the shell and BLOCKS airflow Therefore the air in the foam is“pumped” through the material “D” to the child. 2. When the force of thebody is NOT against the foam/shell, the foam recovers while the membraneis sucked away from the shell and allows air through the holes in theshell to fill the foam.

In FIG. 35: XO—The shell is detachable with different sizes used forchildren of different sizes. The hips are supported well with a narrowbottom. The surface of the shell is near the lower body and is thin.Some embodiments have perforations for air circulation through theshell.

In FIG. 36: XP: Staggered openings are beneficial. XQ—“Bellows” actionPASSIVE AIR CONDITIONING—The shell is designed to be close to the body.Openings on the shell are NOT lined up with the openings in themembrane. Therefore as the child moves in the shell, and the foam getscompressed, air is forced through the fabricas the membrane blocks as itis pushed to the shell. When the child moves away, the foam relaxes andthe membrane is sucked in and opens the apertures on the shell bringingin new air.

In FIG. 37: XR—Crash Bar provides crush reduction of the occupant spaceand can swing away for access of the child; XS—Flex Bar provides shockabsorbtion function and has a pivot slide at one end and a pivot at theother end.

In FIG. 38: XT—The Pillow Pad supports the head. The Pillow Pad and itssupports may be designed to flex to provide impact absorbtion; XU—Duringlateral acceleration or lateral impact, the Shell swings to increase thesurface area of contact to support the occupant; XV—Slider at end oftravel during impact.

In FIG. 39: XW—Pivoted sliders engage lateral slides; XX—Flex Barfilters impact force; XY—Dual latches that first release the harness andwith more displacement release the shell. These separate latches may beganged together with a catch. This is particularly useful in the InfantShell where the shell is removed with the child most of the time;XZ—Shock absorbing device attached to sub-base. The Shock absorbtiondevice may have two or more sections in series. The first (springdamper) is tuned to acceleration of the shell and the cradle with thechild during normal centrifugal acceleration due to vehicle turns. Thesecond section may be tuned to impact conditions of extremeacceleration. The First section will therefore be fully compressed. (orexpanded) before the impact section begins to operate and therefore willhave positioned the child ahead of the impact to present an enhancedbody surface area as a result of the prior rotation. This will improveover the time of impact.

In FIG. 40—Motion under lateral acceleration—In this embodiment thepivoting slider has 2 axes of pivoting and one of sliding on the sideslide: YA—The Side Slide is slidably attached to a pivoted slider thatattaches to the flex bar. This arrangement provides a reaction force onthe cradle/shell/occupant on the opposite side of its center of gravityfrom the face of the shock absorber; YB—Flexbar, pivotally attached tothe side slide inside the Crash Bar.

In FIG. 41—Motion under lateral acceleration: YC—Shock absorber (notshown) attached here and to the cradle.

In FIG. 42: YD—Ganged or separate latches for Shell/Harness.

FIG. 43: Shows each of the left half and right half harness having abelly pad (BP)/Aircushion (AC) that provides support to the torso of theoccupant in a frontal or oblique impact.

In FIG. 44: YE—Pillow Pads may be adjusted with multiple settings as canHarness and Shoulder Pads; YF—Upper Assembly Hub holds Pillow PadsHarness and Shoulder Rests; YG—Upper Spine can adjust the height of FlexSpine and head support. To save weight the Upper spine can be connecteddirect to the Flex Spine; YH—Separate headRest support telescopes insideand can be locked with a pin; YI—Adjustment possible with Pin or otherarrangement; YJ—Flexible spine that can twist with a torsional load orflex laterally with a side load as in a lateral impact. These loads canbe from the inertial mass of the shoulders pushing against the shouldersupport or the head against the pillow pads (these will reduce the peakacceleration of the head and/or thorax) Some embodiments may even haveSEPARATE flexible spines to allow differential movement of the head andshoulders with this arrangement even alone; YK—Shell may have a cavityto support the flex bar to limit its distortion under load; YL—FlexSpine may flex laterally or twist to lower peak loads on head andthorax; YM—Flex Spine can have different cross sections to either allowlateral flexing or rotation under torsion.

In FIG. 45: YN—Headrest may have separate support for height adjustment;YO—Wishbone brace attaches tether to base and to ISO-FIX latch;YP—Support for ISO_FIX latch attaches to Wishbone brace; YQ—Cradle Basecan be locked to base in many positions mating cylindrical surface;YR—Metal Brace inside base.

In FIG. 46: YS—For Egress and ingress the Crash Bar is unlocked andswings out to allow the shell to tilt out or easy access. A single handoperation unlocks the Crash Bar; YT—Latch for harness not shown. Twoloops on the left and right harness sections attach to a pair of hookson the Shell support frame. A similar hook on the Shell support frameholds the Shell.

In FIG. 47: YU—For egress and ingress the pillow pads, harness andshoulder pads swing AWAY from the body of the child to provide easyaccess. The angled pivots allow engagement of these devices when neededwith the child, but swing away when not needed.

In FIG. 48: YV—Upper Assembly support is anchored at bottom and attachedto the headrest, pillow pads and shoulder pad at the top. During sideimpact force on the shoulders and/or head will twist the upper assemblysupport to filter out peak acceleration of the head of the head andthorax.

In FIG. 49: YW—Position of pillow Pads show twist of Upper Assembly toprotect the head and thorax.

In FIG. 50: YX—Position of Pillow Pads show the twist motion of theUpper Assembly relative to the Shell and Cradle Lower Assembly during aside impact.

In FIG. 51: YY Flex Upper Assembly support protects head and thoraxduring side impact.

In FIG. 52: YZ—Flex Head with flex upper assembly support reduces peakaccelerations of head and thorax on impact.

FIG. 53-57 show an alternative embodiment.

In FIG. 53: ZA—Flex Bars provide spring damper properties for support ofthe cradle assembly. The damper component of the flex bars may beprovided by encasing/surrounding the spring material with a materialthat shatters or crushes or dents. (metals past yield point); ZB—Theconnection A and B may also be directly on the cradle assembly if thespring damper properties of the flex bar are not needed.

In FIG. 54: ZC—Flex-bars may be pivotally attached to the cradle;ZD—Shock absorbers may be attached to this extension of the flex barsand to the side of the sub base.

In FIG. 55: ZE—Connection means between A-A′ and B-B′ may have a shockabsorber (spring damper/air damper) along its length. (there may bemore/less than two such connection means); Note—The positions of A,Bmust be such that both of the support forces on A, B from A′, B′respectively act on the mass of the occupant/shell/cradle (OSC) on theopposite side of the Center of Gravity of the OSC to the shock absorberduring impact or acceleration laterally. i.e. that the components of theforces through A,B in the direction of the acceleration pass throughpoints on the plane passing through the center of gravity (CG) of themoving body (that includes the occupant and its support arrangement)Opposite the side of the component (in the direction of theacceleration) of the forces of the shock absorbers controlling themotion. The moment of the forces A.B about the CG should be greater thanthe moment of the shock absorber about the CG.

In FIG. 56: ZF—Sliders slide on the slides attached to the sub-base.These may have one or more degrees of rotational freedom relative to theCradle that supports the Shell. If there is symmetric sliding on the twoor more slides, two degrees of rotational freedom of the slideorthogonal to the sliding axis may be required; ZG—Wishbone connectstether to latch housing and base; ZH—Connection means between B′-B maybe slidably connected at one end pivotally connected at the other endwith one or more degrees of rotational freedom on each of the ends. TheFlex Bar may also be pivotally connected to the Cradle of the Shell atB0; ZI—Connection means may be slidably connected at one end andpivotally connected with one or more degrees of freedom at the otherend. OR pivotally connected at both ends A and A′ with one or moredegrees of freedom each. A may also be pivotally connected at its baseA0.

In FIG. 57: ZJ—Slide bars for cradle Assembly. Two or more slides may beused for stability of the dynamic occupant support (child Shell);ZK—Sub-base Assembly (if used otherwise the base assembly) has one ormore attachment points for flex bar(s) A′, B′, C′, there may be directattachment points with a connection means as in A′-A, B′-B or with anadditional attached element as with C′.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   -   101—Central Member of Indo-skeletal structure    -   102—Safety Beam Lower Element    -   103—Side impact shock absorbers    -   104—External Air Bags    -   105—Perforation Shields    -   106—Protector Shields    -   107—Safety Beam Upper Element    -   108—Auxiliary Beam (fixed or sliding)    -   109—Multi-element contoured passenger seat    -   110—Vehicle Shell/Body    -   111—Secondary Slides/Impact decouplers/pivoting slider    -   112—Locking devices    -   112A—Pivot for Protector shield    -   210—Child or Infant support mechanism (CISM)    -   211—CISM support pivots    -   212—Lock pin—Internal Airbag equivalents (IAE) with Safety beam        lower element    -   213—Pin slot for lateral impact movement    -   214—Internal Airbag equivalent shock absorber    -   215—Slot for housing Internal Airbag Equivalent shock absorbers    -   216—Pin Hole for registering Lock Pin    -   217—Support Key—secondary slide to outer rotator    -   218—CISM Support Bracket    -   219—Pivotal support for CISM Support Bracket    -   220—Pivot for Internal Airbag equivalent attached to CISM        support bracket    -   221—Fixed Support for safety beam lower elements and internal        airbag equivalents    -   222—support for secondary slides, CISM support bracket and        internal airbag equivalents    -   223—Support flange between Secondary slide and internal airbag        equivalent active ends    -   224—Internal airbag equivalents—dual movable active end at        center    -   225—Internal Airbag Equivalents—dual movable        extremes—expansion/compression.    -   226—Lock pin hole on dual internal airbag equivalent center        support    -   227—Top lock flanges    -   228—Side lock flanges    -   229—Front lock flanges    -   230—Side support flange    -   231—Lateral Brace    -   232 CISM Support Bracket/cradle    -   233—Pivotal support for CISM Support Bracket    -   234—Pivot for Slider or Shock absorber attached to one or both        of CISM or its support bracket.    -   235—Fixed Support for safety beam lower elements and shock        absorbers    -   236—Sliding pivot arrangement—supports secondary slides, CISM        pivot bracket, shock absorbers    -   237—Support flange between Secondary slide and shock absorber        active ends    -   238—Shock absorbers—dual movable active end at center    -   239—Slider or sliding Shock absorbers—dual movable        extremes—expansion/compression.    -   240—Lock pin hole on dual shock absorber center support    -   240A—Lock Pin support with slots to engage and compress one of        the two shock absorbers    -   241—Top lock flanges    -   242—Side lock flanges    -   243—Front lock flanges    -   244—Side support flange    -   245—Lateral Brace    -   246—Side sliding surface    -   247—pivoted support for side sliding surface/crash bar    -   248—pillow pads    -   249—head rest    -   250 two part semi rigid harness with optional air cushion on        inside surface    -   251—shoulder pads/supports    -   252—shell    -   253—Flex bar    -   254A—Front pivot slider, 254B Rear Pivot slider    -   255—front spine    -   256—rear spine    -   257—anchor    -   258A rear support bar 258B Front support bar    -   259—shell latch    -   260—shell latch attach bar    -   261—torsion “T” bar    -   P101—Compressible Laterally Slidable (when detached) Hip Bolster    -   P102—Seat Bottom Contoured    -   P103—Impact Decoupler Secondary Slide Elements    -   P104—Retraction Slots for secondary slide support rails (rails        not shown)    -   P105—Retraction slots for Secondary slides, retracted at Egress        and Ingress    -   P106—Front side of rear seat    -   P107—Back of seat bottom    -   P108—Side bolsters in retracted position for egress and ingress    -   P109—Crushed side bolsters during impact (does not intrude into        hip space)    -   P110—Side Bolster Air Bags    -   P111—Shoulder bolster/support—operating position and width    -   P112—Back rest    -   P113—Head Rest    -   P114—Head and Neck air bags (head rest is fixed to backrest so        that it moves with back rest on lateral impact)    -   P115—Body Air Bags to hold and move the body on lateral impact.        The airbags are shaped to push the arms out of the way at        deployment time.    -   P116—Crushed shoulder bolster/support (controlled crush)    -   P117—Back Rest    -   Q101—Head rest support    -   Q102—Pivotally attached headrest flap (Left and Right)    -   P101—Compressible Laterally Slidable (when detached) Hip Bolster    -   P102—Seat Bottom Contoured    -   P103—Impact Decoupler Secondary Slide Elements    -   P104—Retraction Slots for secondary slide support rails (rails        not shown)    -   P105—Retraction slots for Secondary slides, retracted at Egress        and Ingress    -   P106—Front side of rear seat    -   P107—Back of seat bottom    -   P108—Side bolsters in retracted position for egress and ingress    -   P109—Crushed side bolsters during impact (does not intrude into        hip space)    -   P110—Side Bolster Air Bags    -   P111—Shoulder bolster/support—operating position and width    -   P112—Back rest    -   P113—Head Rest    -   P114—Head and Neck air bags (head rest is fixed to backrest so        that it moves with back rest on lateral impact)    -   P115—Body Air Bags to hold and move the body on lateral impact.        The airbags are shaped to push the arms out of the way at        deployment time.    -   P116—Crushed shoulder bolster/support (controlled crush)    -   P117—Back Rest    -   C101—ISOFIX latch    -   C102—CISM incline pivot    -   C103—Side Slide handle (with optional latch to release opening        pivot)    -   C104—Side slider    -   C105—Side slide    -   C106—arm attached to the CISM support    -   C107—Pivot for Side slide    -   C108—Pivot on Side Slider for arm attached to the CISM support    -   C109—Worm Drive for seat slide to access position (the drive nut        that engages Safety Beam Upper element 107 through slot in        Safety beam Lower element 102, is not shown)    -   C110—Motor for Worm drive    -   C111—Flange to support Spring/damper for shock absorber elements        (on each side of 111).    -   C112—Vertical pivots for rotation of seat frame under impact or        for egress/ingress.    -   C113—Seat Frame support rear element    -   C114—Seat Frame support front side element    -   C115—Slide joints between Front and rear seat frame support        elements    -   C116—Slot on 102 for drive nut on worm drive which drives 107 to        and from the extended position.    -   C117—Seat slide for Fore/Aft control (seat not shown)    -   C118—Tether Support wishbone brace    -   C119—Slider Assembly    -   C120—Tether Support Loop    -   C121—Latches for Harness and Shell    -   C122—Forward Pivoting hinges with limits    -   C123—Fabric or other surface material against occupant    -   C124—Foam    -   C125—Flexible membrane    -   C126—Base    -   C127—wheels on detachable shell    -   C128—handle on detachable shell

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Preferred Embodiment

The preferred embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 11-20, 31-57. Thisembodiment is for a CISM. It has a base that is rigidly mounted with apair of ISOFIX latches and a tether. The rigidity of the base isenhanced with a “wishbone” that is made of a rigid material such asaerospace aluminum connected between the Isofix latches and the tethermount and secured to the base along its length. The wishbone is bestwith straight sections to allow it to accept tensile loads withoutdistorting the surrounding plastic material. Further, considering thatthe mount for the base is on its rear with the ISOFIX latches and thetether, a lateral acceleration of the vehicle will apply an inertialloading from the child and its immediate support to twist the section ofthe base ahead of its mount. To counter that, the present invention, inaddition to using rigid plastic materials has two lateral bars—one atthe front of the base and the other at the back of the base and a rigidrod or tube that connects them from the front to the back . . . thetoque applied to the front of the base from the inertial loading will beresisted by this rigid rod or tube.

The sub-base (see FIG. 31) has a crash bar that resists intrusion in tothe occupant space, if forced in, it is adapted to push the occupantshell away from the intrusion. The crash bar has a side sliding surface246 that is slidably connected to a pivoting head at the end of theflexbar 253 (FIG. 37) that is connected at its other end to the cradle232. The sub base has two lateral slide bars 102 that have pivotingsliders 111 on them. These pivoting sliders are attached on theirpivoting end to the cradle 258. There is a shock absorption device (notshown for clarity) that is both compression and expansion enabled as aspring damper connected to the sub base at the point 239B and the otherend connected to the cradle 232 at 239A. Finally the crash bar 247 ispivotally attached to the sub base and with the release of a latch canbe swung out thereby enabling the cradle to swing around with the shellthereby enabling easy egress and ingress.

The Cradle 232 is supported by the two sliding pivots 254A and B, andthe flex bar 253. The front facing shell 252 is locked onto it byengaging a ridge on the back of the shell with a support bar 258A andwith a pair of latches 259. Notably the rear facing shell is reversedwith the ridge on leg section of the occupant and the latch under thetorso section. FIG. 18 shows the (holes for) the attachment bar 260 forthis latch in the rear facing shell.

The rear spine 256 has a support tube with pin holes on it so it can beraised and lowered by removing the pin, and has a torsion resistant rodattached at its bottom to the support tube. For the front facing seat,the head rest, and the assembly comprising the pillow pads, the harnessand shoulder supports are attached to this. These items can be swung upon each of two axes, which are oriented to ensure that the harness andpillow pads swing away from the occupant when raised, thereby easingegress and ingress. The Harness and or the Pillow pad rising may bespring loaded to ease release.

The two part semi rigid harness is designed to be adjusted for length ata connection point just above the belly pad (that provides a broad areaof contact to support the body) and is designed to have a latcharrangement at the end just below the shell on the cradle to hold it inposition. This latch may be moved forward and backwards to ensure thatthe seat can be used for children of all shapes.

It may be seen that the pillow pads are inclined towards the front andslightly outwards laterally. This is to aid the use of the pillow padsas pillows for the rest of the child. When the shell and the occupantare under lateral acceleration, their inertial mass will force the shelland cradle to rotate and thereby orient the pillow pad in the directionopposite that of the acceleration to orient to the near verticalposition (see FIG. 40), thereby supporting the head under severeacceleration. Notably the position of the pillow pads in the normaloperating position will reduce obstruction to the field of view of thechild and reduce the impairment to hearing when compared to other childseats with large wings.

The entire upper assembly containing the headrest, pillow pads, harnessand shoulder pads/supports can be moved up and down by disengaging a pinon the rear spine and moving the support tube.

In addition the upper assembly support rod may be designed to twistalong its axis so that the upper assembly, while resisting the inertialloading of the head and shoulders lags behind the movement of the shellthereby allowing the head to reduce peak accelerations. This is seen inFIGS. 49 and 50, another variation of the embodiment has a flex spinethat bends to accommodate a differential motion desired between the headand the thorax. This is illustrated in FIGS. 51 and 52.

In addition the material for the Pillow pads may be designed to flex oncontact with the head thereby reducing peak loading conditions.

Finally to address front impact, the pillow pads in the normal operatingposition constrict the space in front and below the face. In the frontor certainly in an oblique impact these will support the head ratherthan allow the neck to take the entire loading resulting in high necktensile load conditions. A variation of this design has a spring loadedpivot arrangement at the main Upper assembly hub. On contact of thetorso with the harness, the forward force pulls the tow axes forwardthereby reducing the space between the pillow pads, thereby increasingthe likelihood of supporting the head in a front impact.

In the case of the rear facing seat for infants, the shell is positionedin the reverse direction on the cradle—see for example FIG. 14. Whilethe same arrangements for the harness, shoulder pads and pillow pads maybe used, as the main front impact loading is now on the back of the seat(which is the front of the vehicle) a conventional soft harness may beused.

For side impact and acceleration the same cradle swing mechanism works.A simplified version of the upper assembly is used in this embodimentfor the rear facing seats may be seen in FIG. 14, 15, 16, 17. Here theTorsion “T” bar is used to provide differential movement between thehead and upper body and the lower body that moves with the cradle withinertial lateral loading. The Torsion “T” bar is inserted into the frontspine and held with the same pin that held the shaft with the latch forthe semi rigid harness for the front facing seat. With an inertialloading of the head the headrest pushes the torsion bar that twists toaccommodate the differential movement of the head relative to thethorax.

Notably all relative motion of regions of the anatomy of the occupant,are by design arranged to conform the axes of natural movement. In thiscase the rotational movement of the spine and neck and the flexuralmovement of the spine and neck.

The rear facing seat is shown with a retractable undercarriage andhandle that can be extended when the shell is removed from the cradleand wheeled for the convenience of the mother/guardian. The handle has aunique arrangement with the retracting mechanism allowing control of theretraction and extension with the handle alone. An extension element maybe added to the handle to make it extend further.

In all embodiments with the reorienting shell, the position of thecenter of mass relative to the support points that produce reactionforces determines the direction of reorientation. It should be ensuredthat the reaction forces should be lower on the side that needs to movemore against inertial load due to the acceleration.

FIG. 34, 36 illustrate a passive air conditioning system for any shelltype support mechanism for an occupant in a vehicle. Here a supportshell has a substantially rigid structural shell with perforations,within which is interposed adjoining it, a flexible membrane withperforations staggered to the perforations of the structural shell andadjoining it a foam layer that is adapted to absorb air on expansion andrelease air on compression, within which is a gas permeable membraneadapted to be adjoining the occupant, such that during transient lateralaccelerations of the vehicle in a first direction the inertial mass ofthe occupant compresses the foam thereby forcing air to the occupantside as the membrane with perforations adjoining the structural shellwith perforations will as a result for the force of compression and as aresult of the staggered perforations, provide a seal against thetransfer of air through the structural shell and wherein duringtransient lateral accelerations in a second direction the inertial massshifts away from the foam and permeable membrane thereby allowing thefoam to suck air from both sides, wherein the low pressure created nextto the perforated membrane separates it from the perforated structuralshell thereby allowing the staggered perforations to permit the infusionof air into the foam from the outer surface of the structural shell,thereby creating a mechanism for fresh air to enter the support shellfor enhancing the comfort of the occupant. Notably the staggered spacingof the structural shell and the membrane may be even statisticallystaggered.

Alternative Embodiments

An embodiment of the CISM as illustrated in FIGS. 21-30, has two slidersand two corresponding pivots therefore having two slides on two axeseach with pivotal linkages to the CISM. One or both of the slidingmechanisms have shock absorbing elements. In the figures one of thesliding elements 107/111 on 102 has a pair of shock absorbing elementsinside the tube 102 and a pin that serves as the pivot 233 engages theshock absorbers on each of the two sides for compression only. Theslider 107/111 has a hole through its body to accommodate the pin thatin turn goes through the slot in 102. Each of the two shock absorbers onthe two sides of the pin 233 attached to 107/111 compress in the eventof lateral acceleration of the CISM, which can be due to impact orcentrifugal force as the vehicle negotiates curves. There may be multielement shock absorbers that have multiple compression characteristicsto cater for the lower acceleration of centrifugal action, and thehigher acceleration of impacts. Moreover the accelerations can be indiscrete steps with multiple stages with increasing accelerationsenabled with multi stage shock absorption devices.

These figures FIG. 21-30 also show a head rest support Q101 which hastwo pivotally attached head rest flaps on it, with the pivot as farforward as possible so that on severe lateral acceleration the flaps aredepressed thereby ensconcing the head to provide it a large surface areaof support. The head rest flaps as shown also have one or more holes inthe ear area to ensure a clear path for sound to the ears of the child.Such holes don't compromise the structural strength of the head rest asunder such severe acceleration the flap rests against the headrestsupport that does not need to have holes in it. The Head rest flap isalso shown to have a recessed section near the front for the eyes sothat the child has an unrestricted view. During severe acceleration therotation of the CISM raises the level of the relevant head flap toprovide support as high as required on the head. The present inventiontherefore has a solution that does not need to compromise the stimulithat the child can benefit from in the vehicle critical for itsdevelopment, to enhance safety. Most other designs would need to havehuge wings on headrest to provide the same support.

FIG. 21-30 does not show the ISOFIX or other latch mechanism in theinterest of clarity. This will be mounted on the curved bars shown atthe bottom of the seat.

Any of the embodiments of the Child seat and CISM described herein mayutilize a pre-tensioner device if 11 available in the vehicle. The carbelt is threaded over a bar or lever that is pivotally or slidablyattached to the seat frame. On activation of the pre-tensioner the baror lever is moved and this may activate a cable or other mechanicallinkage that tightens the child's harness.

The side arm 239 if on the door side of the child seat, it will alsoperform the function of an impact barrier to further protects the child.The side arm 239 in some embodiments may be unlocked and either pivotedoutwards or slid on yet another sliding arrangement out of the way toallow the CISM to tilt outwards to ease egress and ingress.

Another alternative embodiment for occupant support is illustrated inFIGS. 3-10. This embodiment has cylindrical slides for the safety beamlower element 102 and the safety beam upper element 107, with the safetybeam upper element driven to the access/loading position FIG. 10E22 witha worm drive inside the safety beam lower element 102. the drive nut orball screw for the worm drive is attached to the safety beam upperelement 107 through a slot C116 in the safety beam lower element 102. asmay be seen from the illustrations a lateral impact loading on theprotector shield 106 side will be supported by the safety beam lower 102and upper 107 elements that are braced to the central element 101.However the inertial loading under lateral impact will move thesecondary slides (without impact decouplers) 111 relative to the safetybeam upper elements 107 against the spring damper shock absorbers placedbetween 107 and 111 (not shown) thereby reducing the peak accelerationsustained by the occupant. Moreover, when there is a controlled crush ofthe vehicle the occupant can move as shown from the normal operatingposition of FIG. 7 to the initially loaded position against the shockabsorbers that may have differential parameters to ensure rotation ofthe occupant away from the impact (towards the acceleration direction)as shown in FIG. 8, and afterwards following the damping of theacceleration pulse move towards the center of the vehicle and away fromthe crush as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10. These illustrations do notshow the seat or passenger support mechanism but only a set of fore/aftadjustment slide mounts for the seats. This embodiment has near verticalpivots C112 and front C114 and rear C113 seat frame supports that areslidably interconnected C115 to allow a variable distance between thesliding Secondary slides 111 with differential displacements under loador during egress and ingress when the impact decouplers and shockabsorbers are disengaged allowing the rotation of the seat frame tofurther ease access for the occupant. A further refinement of thisembodiment (not shown is analogous to the CISM of 1,2 where the occupantsupport has a degree of rotation about an axis in a vertical planethrough the direction of motion of the vehicle (analogous to 233 in theCISM of FIG. 1,2) thereby tilting the occupant support to reducedisplacement of the head and thorax while using the impact energy torotate the passenger support mechanism to increase the area of support.If the Fore aft movement of the passenger support mechanism is notobstructed, the Safety beam lower elements 102, upper elements 107 maybe positioned on the rear of the Passenger support mechanism and belowit as in the CISMs of FIG. 1,2. The CISM version of this embodiment mayhave ISOFIX latches attached to the ends of the safety beam lowerelement 102 and the Safety beam upper element 107 may be coupled to thesecondary slide 111 (or even be the same element in some embodiments).The embodiment of the CISM may not be attached to the central bodymember 101 or to the protector shields 106.

Additional Embodiments

Yet another embodiment utilizes a viscous fluid filled anatomical microair cushion with a vent to a secondary chamber and internalconstrictions to limit the speed of motion of the fluid within thechamber, thereby taking the shape of the anatomical element such as theback of the head or the thorax, while under gentle pressure, butproviding high levels of resistance under sudden compression as in acollision.

Yet another embodiment has a curvilinear sliding surface attached to theCISM, with sets of rollers that engage the sliding surface such that atleast some of the sets of rollers are on both sides of the slidingsurface thereby transferring pull and push reactive forces from the CISMto the roller mounts. Moreover the sets of rollers may be mounted to aframe that allows controlled lateral movement of the rollers and adegree or rotational motion about an axis parallel to the axis of therotators such that the rotational motion and the translation motionrotate the CISM to enable the occupant to face away from the impact(towards the direction of acceleration).

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS & SCOPE

Thus it will become apparent that the present invention presented,provides a new paradigm for implementing key safety comfort andconvenience features and providing utility in accessing vehicles. Whilethe above description provides many specificities, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of the present invention, butrather as an exemplification of the preferred, an additional and analternative embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible.

1. A support element for a child with a head and a torso in a vehiclewith a head assembly for front impact protection comprising a hub with apillow pad and a harness attached to the hub on each side with a springloaded pivot arrangement on arms, wherein said pillow pads are enabledfor a front impact support during a forward projection of the head witha motion of said pillow pads towards the head caused by forward motionof the harness with an inertial loading of the torso of the child,enabled to articulate said pillow pads towards the head of the child andenabled to support and restrain in an impact, the head of the child,with a central or a pair of hinges on arms that pivot forward, therebyreducing the gap between said pillow pads and supporting and therebyrestraining the head of the child.
 2. A support mechanism for a forwardfacing occupant in a vehicle wherein during accelerations of the vehiclesaid support mechanism is adapted to re-orient, while providing supportfor said occupant during said reorientation, and wherein said supportmechanism comprises a plurality of support elements, wherein one of saidplurality of elements is a torso support assembly for the support of thetorso, and another of said plurality of elements is a head supportassembly for the support of the head supported by a flex spine, andwhere in the head support assembly is adapted under transient lateralaccelerations of the vehicle, to provide controlled support while one orboth of rotating about a predefined axis substantially parallel to aback of the occupant relative to the torso support assembly, and bendinglaterally along its axis substantially parallel to a back of theoccupant relative to the torso assembly enabled by the distortion of theflex spine thereby providing controlled resistance to the head and torsounder transient accelerations, thereby reducing a peak acceleration ofone or both of the head and torso.
 3. A dynamic occupant support for achild in a seat in a vehicle said dynamic occupant support, attachedslidably to the base assembly of the seat with a plurality of separatepivoted slides, wherein during lateral accelerations of the vehicle saiddynamic occupant support in the seat is adapted to reorient as a resultof the inertial loading of the child about an axis of rotation whichtranslates along a path on a plane substantially orthogonal to said axisof rotation enabled by the plurality of separate pivoted slides,pivotally attached to said dynamic occupant support, a support surfacefor the child on said support structure, by an angular displacement of afacing direction of the support surface, towards a direction of thelateral acceleration thereby enabling an increase in the support surfacearea during said lateral acceleration while providing substantialcontrolled support for the child during such time of reorientation.
 4. Asupport mechanism for an occupant in a vehicle as in claim 3, furthercomprising a cradle, wherein said cradle is detachable and may bereplaced with a booster shell for older children.
 5. A support mechanismfor a child in a vehicle as in claim 3, further comprising latches and atether attachment point to attach to the vehicle on a car seat with aback and a bottom, with at least two latch attachment points at the baseof the seat back and a tether, wherein said base of said supportmechanism comprises a wishbone that connects the tether attachment pointto the at least two latches, thereby enabling a rigid triangle ofsupports for the occupant support mechanism.
 6. A support mechanism fora child in a vehicle as in claim 3, further comprising a cradle, whereinsaid cradle is adapted to attach to a rear facing support shell, whereinsaid rear facing support shell is detachably attached to said cradle,and comprises wheels and a handle, adapted to transport said shell whendetached from said cradle of said support mechanism.
 7. A supportmechanism as in claim 6 wherein one or both of the wheels and handle ofthe support shell are retractable, thereby reducing the required spacein the vehicle when said support shell is attached to the cradle of thesupport mechanism for a child.
 8. A support for an occupant in a vehicleas in claim 3, comprising a support shell for the occupant that isadapted to be reoriented to face substantially outside the vehicle tofacilitate egress and ingress.
 9. A support mechanism for a child in avehicle as in claim 3, wherein: i) the head is supported by one of apair of pillow pads oriented to be substantially orthogonal to and onthe side of a lateral transient acceleration towards the child of thevehicle and the support mechanism, thereby enabling the pillow pad toapply a substantially orthogonal lateral reaction force, to support thehead of the child, and ii) wherein in the absence of a lateral transientacceleration, said pillow pads are adapted to lie in an angled positionto the vertical and displaced downwards with regard to the head toenable one or more of: allow the child to rest its head on said pillowpad; provides a less obstructed field of view as a result of fixedprotective wings; reduces obstruction to hearing.
 10. A support for achild in a vehicle as in claim 3, wherein said support is adapted toreorient a supported child under transient acceleration conditions,wherein said reorientation is one or both of: a reorientation indiscrete steps with multiple stages of reorientation with increasingaccelerations enabled with multistage shock absorption devices; andreorientation enabled with shock absorption devices enabled for thehigher acceleration of impact and the lower acceleration of centrifugalforces as the vehicle negotiates turns.
 11. A support mechanism for achild in a vehicle as in claim 3, and wherein said support mechanismfurther comprising a Crash Bar (247) with one end attached to thesupport shell and the other end attached to the seat support, that uponintrusion into the vehicle during impact, resists said intrusion and ata predetermined level of force is adapted relocate the support shellaway from the impact side of the support for an occupant.
 12. A supportfor a child, in a vehicle as in claim 3, comprising a base and a supportshell in direct contact with the occupant, a plurality of slidingarrangements attached to the base, and pivotal attachments of thesupport shell to the sliding arrangements, thereby enabling therelocation and rotation of the occupant for one or both of egress andingress; and for protection under vehicle acceleration conditions.
 13. Asupport mechanism for a child in a vehicle as in claim 3, comprising aplurality of chambers containing a viscous fluid and fluid paths therebetween, adapted to conduct predetermined controlled volumes of fluidupon compression of one or more of said chambers, and wherein saidchambers are located adjoining the child at a plurality of regions of ananatomy of the child thereby pressure on a first chamber of theplurality of chambers from reaction forces from the child relocatesfluid to a second chamber of the plurality of chambers that is adaptedto ensconse and protect a protected region of the anatomy of the child.14. A support mechanism for a child in a vehicle as in claim 3, whereinsaid support mechanism comprises a base and a cradle adapted to moveunder said lateral accelerations, wherein the cradle is adapted todetachably attach to at least one of a forward facing support shell anda rear facing support shell that directly supports the child.
 15. Asupport mechanism for a child in a vehicle, wherein said supportmechanism comprises a child support shell and a harness with a left halfand a right half each pivotally attached to the child support shell, andeach comprising a semi-rigid elements along the length of each of theleft side and the right side of said harness thereby making the leftside and the right side of the harness self supporting about each oftheir pivotal axes, adapted to restrain the child substantially withinthe child support shell, and wherein the each of the pivots of the leftand the right side of the harness are located substantially behind theback of the child, and each axis inclined in a direction away from eachother to enable said left half harness and right half harness to eachindependently of the other, swing away from the child about said axes tofacilitate egress and ingress of the child and each of the left half areand the right half separately attached a point on the support mechanismbetween the legs of the child, such that on release of the separatelyattached harness, each of said harness halves, may be moved subject tothe constraints imposed by their pivotal attachments away from the childas each of said harness halves rise as they rotate about theirrespective pivotal axes, thereby easing egress and ingress of the childfrom the support mechanism.
 16. A support mechanism for a child in avehicle as in claim 15, wherein the separable attachment points may bemoved and locked in positions towards and away from the child tofacilitate securing of children with different waist and chestmeasurements.
 17. A support mechanism as in 15, wherein one or both of:the height of the axes for support for the left and right halfharnesses; and the length of each of the left and right half harness,are adjustable to accommodate taller and shorter children.
 18. A supportmechanism as in claim 15, wherein each of the left half and right halfharness each have a passive belly pad that provides support to the torsoof the child in a frontal or oblique impact.
 19. A support mechanism asin claim 15 wherein each of the left and right half harness each have aaircushion adjoining a torso of the child that supports the child in theevent of a frontal or oblique impact on the vehicle.
 20. A supportmechanism as in claim 15, wherein both of said left half and right halfof the harness have a passive support pad for the head in the event of afront impact thereby reducing the neck tensile loadings during suchimpact.
 21. An occupant support mechanism in a vehicle, comprising asupport shell which comprises: I) a substantially rigid structural shellwith perforations with a first side and a second side; II) a flexiblemembrane with a first side and a second side with perforations staggeredto the perforations of the structural shell and therefore not lined upto the perforations on the structural shell; III) a foam layer with afirst side and a second side that is adapted to absorb air on expansionand release air on compression; and IV) a gas permeable membrane with afirst side and a second side, wherein the second side of the rigidstructural shell is adjoining the first side of the perforated membrane,the second side of the perforated membrane is adjacent to the first sideof the foam, the second side of the foam is adjacent to the first sideof the gas permeable membrane and the second side of the gas permeablemembranes adjacent to the occupant, such that: i) during transientaccelerations of a part of the occupant support mechanism in the vehiclein a direction substantially towards the occupant, the inertial mass ofthe occupant upon reactive contact with said part of the support shell,compresses the foam and as on its first side, the combination of theflexible membrane with perforations and the structural shell withmutually staggered perforations as a result of said reactive compressiveforces of the support shell with the occupant, press the membrane withperforations against the structural shell with perforations whereby aresult of the perforations of the flexible membrane with perforationsbeing staggered with regard to the perforations on the structural shell,will not provide a path for airflow out of the foam on its first sideand will therefore create a seal for airflow on the first side of thefoam, resulting in the air being forced out of the foam on its secondside through the gas permeable membrane to the occupant, and ii) duringtransient accelerations of the part of the occupant support mechanism inthe vehicle in a direction substantially away from the occupant there isa reduced reactive force between the occupant and the part of thesupport shell, thereby as the inertial mass of the occupant shifts awayfrom the second side of the gas permeable membrane, the reduced reactiveforce from the occupant releases pressure on the foam in a compressedstate and thereby allows the foam to suck air from both its first sideand its second side, and as a result of the suction of the foam on itsfirst side pulling the membrane with perforations towards the foam andaway from the structural shell, an air path is created for air to flowthrough the perforations on the structural shell and the membrane withperforations into the foam, thereby filling the foam with fresh air fromthe first side of the structural shell, thereby creating a mechanism forfresh air to enter the support shell for enhancing the comfort of theoccupant.